Just and average German style kristal wheat, sadly i think it has lost a lot of character since carlton and United took over, still nice to down every now and then, hints of cloves and banana, but not overly so.

a nice Wheatbeer, although it's hard to figure out the taste, cause everytime i have had one on Tap, the barperson (ahh, SNAG i am) puts a slice of lemon in the bottom on the pint glass. still though. decent. nice session beer.

On second taste (from a bottle this time). it's better from the Tap, it would probably help this beer if it were a little sweeter, (hence the lemon), head dies too quickly, low carbonation in the glass, that somehow equates to too much gas in the stomach. I'm dropping drinkability from 4 to 3.

This one is Australian's attempt at a typical wheat beer style brew. I got the Redback together with my bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale from Beercellar. I was a little curious about this one as I am a fan of wheat beers, be it Belgian or German. The Redback pours out a little surprisingly; it was a typical bright golden pilsner color that is "see through" as opposed to the cloudy and murky hefeweizens. The head was a little more bubbly than the usual Hefeweizen or Witbier heads and mild retention on that one. The smell was wheat malts and yeast; taste was also somewhat along those lines but significantly stronger on the malts with some spices and there was also a bananna tone peeking out towards the finish. The slightly dry finish move into the after taste which was initially dominated by banannas then apples and finally the familiar grapes. The malt backing was present all the while and the after taste was fairly strong and lasting. The mouthfeel was between thin and medium for the body with an apt amount of carbonation and the smoothness was the water smoothness rather than creamy smoothness that many of the european witbiers exhibit. This one's not bad but in view of more readily available German Hefes and Belgian Wits, I will pick those.

Pours amber with a tiny fading head.Nose shows typical doughy wheat, some light phenols along with a hint of lemon.Similar flavours but with the addition of a lot of sweet, characterless and unchallenged malt. Very high carbonation and watery body.

Pours a light golden color with white head that stays for a medium amount of time. Huh.. no real cloudiness/ haze to this. Has a slight smell of wheat and very noticable bananna; a bit of a "wheat" ish taste to it. Another, smooth, slickly mouthfeel beer thats easy to suck down.

Overall, nice to drink, but so many more German examples exist that are far better...

Pours a nice golden color with absolutely no head. Smells slightly of yeast and esters and not much else. The taste is estery and a very sweet. Pretty much par for the wheat beer course. The mouthfeel is very creamy and heavy, very nice. It's fairly drinkable, it's sweet, with just enough bitterness to balance it out. I don't mind it, but I probably won't be buying it again anytime soon.

A golden crystal yellow body fills the glass, with a fluffy white head that dissipates quickly, and leaves fine enough lacing.

It's smells delicious - if you're a fan of wheat beers this is sure to tickle your fancy. Cirtus and spice are evident, but there's a certain antiseptic-like scent that lingres in the background - thankfully, this is easily ignored.

A sharp tart bitterness hits me hard upon first sip, with some citrus undertones. Not to my liking at all.

The carbonation is high, and suits the sharpness of the flavour perfectly... unfortunately that doesn't make the flavour any better.

I've tipped the rest of this out, but I'm sure there's a big demographic of people who will enjoy this. As far as wheat beers go, I'll stick to German hefeweizen's.

updating my four year old review. actually, just deleted it and entering a new one.345ml bottle. best before 8/9/08 4.7%abv

looks fantastic in the glass. deep golden color. high carbonation and a full pillowy white head. mmm.

aroma seems to fill the room. mainly clove but some softer banana and bubblegum. big yeast presence as well which surprises me considering its a fairly clear beer.

flavor tends towards the sweet side, but the high carbonation keeps it lively. really well balanced with some sharpness at first, then it smooths out with that sweetness making it easy to keep lifting the glass.

very enjoyable. wonder if this is brewed down the road at cascade?? bottle doesnt mention anything like that, but this certainly seems fresh.

T- Nice, mild and quite sweet. Orange peel, mandarin and generally citrus fruit which seem to blend reasonably well. A touch grainy on the back. The hops don't give enough of a balance to the rest of the palate but all in all, it tastes fine.

M- Crisp and light. Very soft on the tongue and obviously highly drinkable.

O- Very solid brew. Could be more going on, but it is what it is: Highly sessionable and tasty.

Have such a good memory of this beer!The first time I had it, I was "lost" in Fraser Island, with a friend, half of the day was gone, and we didn't even make to the Mackenzie Lake, I was a bit pissed off, when I simply decided to have a beer, while my friend was driving. So, not expecting much, I opened a bottle of Redback. WOW! Instantaneously, I had a smile in my face and all was great again!There's no way of opening a bottle of Redback and not remembering of this day, so every time I have the pleasure of making it, I feel great!Overall, for me, the taste is great, I really enjoy this kind of beer.But to be honest, I would not be able to classify the colour, tho, I was not a connoisseur at the time.

Very clean golden yellow ale exhibits a decent finger of fluffy white head with good retention.

Fairly appetising smell to this one. Definite wheaty smell, and the banana phenols that go along with it. Hiding behind it is that nice malty 'aussie pale ale' scent which I love so much. Perhaps a touch of citrus in there too.

Taste follows on from the scent, definite wheat and banana characteristics with a decent malt backbone underneath. Nice citric touch as well and maybe a little clove spiciness but not a whole lot there. Hops don't seem to play a big role, not a bitter beer by bitter beer standards. I just wish the flavours were a little fuller. Couldn't find anything wrong with the taste, there just could have been something more or something else to really elevate it.

I found the mouthfeel quite good, but I guess I also view this as an 'Aussie' wheat. The carbonation IS quite high, higher than I would normally want. But I'm not minding it here. I also find it fairly smooth and its refreshingly dry. As a summer lawnmower beer or a summer day in the pub with mates beer, this would definitely go down well as a change of pace.

When it comes to basic, easy to drink but decent summer beers I think Redback has earned a place on the tap. Not overly complex, easy to drink, refreshing, tastes ok, smells great.

345ml bottle, silkscreen differs from the BA pic in that it has "Redback" on the top of the oval, and "Original" across the bottom. This bottle was hoofed back from AUS myself back on my first visit back in 1992. So this bottle is ancient, and has been fridged continuously since then. Probably wouldn't review it, due to the style most likely not aging well, but since this recipe predates the corporate changes that some mention in their reviews, I thought it would be a curiosity. So here goes...

Opens with a hearty pfft, as I would have expected fresh, so that's a start. Poured into an imperial pint glass, forms a 1" frothy bright white head over the clear golden brew. Active carbonation swirls bubbles about. Head hangs on while I was off rinsing the bottle and such, only losing half its height in 5 minutes or so.

Aroma is of spicy wheat, as expected. Taste is light wheat character, with sedate spices moted here and there. Mouthfeel and drinkability are superb. Small bubbles over the tongue enhance the smoothness, and knocking this back swallow by swallow is the epitome of ease.

This brew is all that I remember it to be, and I am shocked that a 13 year old kristalweizen could withstand the age. These facts only make the heart heavier with the apparent news that this brew is no longer what it used to be. I guess I'll just have to savor this last bottle, and at least we'll always <sniff> have the memories...

Pours clean & golden, clear with a soft 2 finger head & well carbonated.S: SMOKY - for a Kristal Weizen its definately smokey bacon on the nose...also some cloves, & a little bready yeast & citrusy. Also caramel toffee, & some bubblegum.T: As it rolled across the tongue I tasted some malty wheaty sweetness - a little too much & again a little smoky, also cloves & a definate sour hit to finish. Hard to detect any bitterness at all, just a zingy sour freshness - definately palate cleansing.M: Felt a little flat & a little sticky on the palateD: I have tried on a number of times to session this by cannot...just too plastically sweet

I had this beer on a trip to Australia at the Redback Hotel.
The beer is served in a wheat flute with a lemon wedge before I can ask for no lemon. The beer arrives a bright gold color with several streams of bubbles rising from the bottom. A thin bleached white head fades to an edge layer rather quickly. Aroma is lemony citrus, but could be due to now removed lemon. I also get grainy malt and some very mild biscuity yeast. First sip reveals a crisp lite body and average fizzy carbonation. The flavor is sweet and citrusy with some sugar as well. Very lite flavor makes the beer quickly drinkable and it is good on this warm spring day in Melbourne. The beer is not brewed on premise and is contracted out to Matilda Bay.
Not a bad beer for a warm day.

Clear pale gold colour with a large white bubbly head. Some retention. Aroma is appetizingly lemony and wheaty. Tastes of refreshing citrus fruit (lemon), malty wheat and barley, some banana and has a crisp finish. Light body. Moderate to high carbonation. Good West Australian beer and definitely best without the lemon that's usually squashed in the neck of the bottle over the bar.

I must admit, this is the beer that enabled me to finally appreciate how good beer could be. I lived in the Perth/ Freemantle area for a number of months in 1999. Although i had drank plenty of it, before that time i wasn't much of a beer drinker. Until one late June day that i stumbled into the local Kalamunda (its a town) liquor store and decided to sample some beer other than those i had before. (i spent my first month there deciding my personal winner in the ever long struggle between VB and EB- congrats EB) Redback was my first choice, being from Louisiana i could appreciate the poisonous spider salute, and i was bitten at first sip. This beer has a excellent color to it light golden yellow it practically exudes wheat. Clear as day, it was something i wasn't used to only being familiar to yeasty hefe-weisen. Truly liquid bread. Upon smelling it i was delighted by the balance between the clove and banana esters. Most Australian wheats that i tried were without a doubt on the far banana side i assuming as a result of the climate. This one was different. Its makeup was surprisingly smooth; with a light mouthfeel this beer is extremely drinkable. Its taste is nice and wheaty with subtle light malt aftertones. And the hops! Now, i know that many folks say that the high alpha hops grown in the southern pacific region tend to be too "dirty" tasting, but i am a firm believer in their earthy, spicy bitterness. In this beers case they should have Pride in the Ringwood (sorry : ) but the Saaz hops used in addition to the australian hops lends to a nice mild spicy bitterness. In hindsight this is the ultimate beginners wheat beer, not that it won't stand up to many of the worlds great wheats. Three cheers for one of Australia's first great craft wheat beers!